Why Stanford Med rocks

[bshock99]

http://medicologic.com/stanford/convince.htm

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[IndyZX]

hah. im sold.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

darn man......I am sold big time too......now if only they will start reviewing those apps and start interviewing

 

[clockitnow]

What is AOA?

 

[futuremsfdoc]

if i'd known this before sending my amcas in, i may have applied there instead of yale. but i'm happy with my choice of yale for now.

 

[Harps]

that's right..hell yeah...stanford rocks

-Harps

 

[CarlosMielefan]

if i'd known this before sending my amcas in, i may have applied there instead of yale. but i'm happy with my choice of yale for now.

I am actually beginning to seriously regret Yale. They are awfully slow at processing their apps, and I am simply far too impatient. Glad to hear someone is happy about Yale. Everyone I know finds their admissions office to be rude, and their status page to be a fraud! (The check I sent them cleared, and they have me as unpaid on the status page.... how funny).

 

[Harps]

I am actually beginning to seriously regret Yale. They are awfully slow at processing their apps, and I am simply far too impatient. Glad to hear someone is happy about Yale. Everyone I know finds their admissions office to be rude, and their status page to be a fraud! (The check I sent them cleared, and they have me as unpaid on the status page.... how funny).

what are you talking about their staff being rude? Richard Silverman is probably the most personable dean you will meet on your interview trail........the secretaries...i can't speak about...but if you interview there....you'll realize that their admissions office personnel are extremely congenial......

-Harps

 

[Cat's Meow]

what are you talking about their staff being rude? Richard Silverman is probably the most personable dean you will meet on your interview trail........the secretaries...i can't speak about...but if you interview there....you'll realize that their admissions office personnel are extremely congenial......

-Harps

Do you think that Stanford is the best medical school? I hear that the students are snobby and that the clinical rotations suck b/c Stanford panders to the rich of Palo Alto.

Also, from what I hear, there is little diversity

I am Jew from the Midwest (Omaha, NE) and I hear that there are very few of us in Stanford

But I am not totally sure

 

[Cat's Meow]

I am actually beginning to seriously regret Yale. They are awfully slow at processing their apps, and I am simply far too impatient. Glad to hear someone is happy about Yale. Everyone I know finds their admissions office to be rude, and their status page to be a fraud! (The check I sent them cleared, and they have me as unpaid on the status page.... how funny).

i couldn't agree more. why do some schools have to be mean and take their time in doing everything (like yale and stanford). jeez!

 

[Harps]

Do you think that Stanford is the best medical school? I hear that the students are snobby and that the clinical rotations suck b/c Stanford panders to the rich of Palo Alto.

Also, from what I hear, there is little diversity

I am Jew from the Midwest (Omaha, NE) and I hear that there are very few of us in Stanford

But I am not totally sure

Answer to first question...an emphatic yes....clinical rotations....excellent at Santa Clara...

there are a couple of jews in my class....are you serious....lol??

yes...students are snobby...

-Harps

 

[Cat's Meow]

Answer to first question...an emphatic yes....clinical rotations....excellent at Santa Clara...

there are a couple of jews in my class....are you serious....lol??

yes...students are snobby...

-Harps

do you think that "a couple of jews" counts as diversity?

 

[constructor]

come on, students aren't snobby! that's ridiculous.

 

[IndyZX]

do you think that "a couple of jews" counts as diversity?

is that a response to something harps said? he just addressed a concern of that poster

 

[Cat's Meow]

come on, students aren't snobby! that's ridiculous.

Really? I don't know if you're being sarcastic...

 

[Harps]

come on, students aren't snobby! that's ridiculous.

depends on who you ask....

right?

-Harps

 

[Cat's Meow]

depends on who you ask....

right?

-Harps

What do you mean? Do you think that Stanford students are snobby?

 

[Cat's Meow]

Why is Stanford so late in beginning interviews? Do they think they are too good or something?

I don't know, but haven't most other (all?) medical schools started interviews?

Talk about taking your sweet time

 

[FutureMD!]

hah. im sold.

LOL of course Stanford is one of the best if not the best...who REALLY would argue with that? Did you really need to post this because frankly have you looked at the incoming freshman profile? To get even a interview at this school would require a stroke of genius, but you have to BE a genius to be in the entering class. Just my thoughts

P.s Not that I won't apply next year...from what I hear its all a crap shoot anyways.

 

[Cat's Meow]

LOL of course Stanford is one of the best if not the best...who REALLY would argue with that? Did you really need to post this because frankly have you looked at the incoming freshman profile? To get even a interview at this school would require a stroke of genius, but you have to BE a genius to be in the entering class. Just my thoughts

P.s Not that I won't apply next year...from what I hear its all a crap shoot anyways.

hmm...

 

[Cat's Meow]

Does anyone know when Stanford will start interviewing applicants?

Are there many people like me (Jewish) in Palo Alto?

I don't know if I could go to a school where I was culturally alone

Just curious

 

[Creatine]

Does anyone know when Stanford will start interviewing applicants?

Are there many people like me (Jewish) in Palo Alto?

I don't know if I could go to a school where I was culturally alone

Just curious

Based upon information in the secondary application, Stanford will begin sending out interview invitations in late November, and all interviews will be conducted in December, January, and February.

 

[Cat's Meow]

Based upon information in the secondary application, Stanford will begin sending out interview invitations in late November, and all interviews will be conducted in December, January, and February.

Why is Stanford waiting so long to start interviews?

 

[Cat's Meow]

This thread ought to be something along the lines of why Stanford Med DOESN'T rock

 

[Harps]

This thread ought to be something along the lines of why Stanford Med DOESN'T rock

dude or dudette...calm down. This year all the interviews will be conducted in a block.....this condenses the process....more efficient..and fair to applicants...

-Harps

 

[vikaskoth]

dude or dudette...calm down. This year all the interviews will be conducted in a block.....this condenses the process....more efficient..and fair to applicants...

-Harps

Cat's Meow just posts stupid stuff to try and start **** with people, i guess thats being a troll or flaming, not familiar with all these board terms. Ignore him or her, they started a thread a while back called "Are their any other jewish pre-meds out there?" It's jus someone being an idiot

 

[Cat's Meow]

dude or dudette...calm down. This year all the interviews will be conducted in a block.....this condenses the process....more efficient..and fair to applicants...

-Harps

So every school is doing things unfairly except Stanford?

 

[bshock99]

I'm a graduating med students at Stanford and I started this thread because I truly do believe that Stanford Med is probably the best med school in the nation, particularly for those who are proactive in taking advantage of the amazing resources here. Problem is that many of the advantages that the school offers aren't that obvious to the everyday pre-med applicant and even to many of the current med students here.

A couple of examples I'd like to add:
-86 per class--Although this small class size does make it that much harder to get a spot, once you're in, there are a couple of key advantages: 1) More financial aid dollars per student. 2) Because there are fewer Stanford med students out there, residencies (especially those with large classes, such as Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, etc) are often looking to get one into their program. In a way, your main competition when you apply is going to be your classmate.

-Flexibility in scheduling clerkships--The first clinical year for med students at other schools consists mostly of core rotations (Int Med, Surg, Ob/Gyn, Peds, Psych, Family Med), leaving little to no time to explore other fields. Unfortunately, many of these fields are also the most competitive ones (derm, rads, anesthesia, optho, plastics, ortho) where it definitely pays to decide early, giving you time to start research projects and getting to know the faculty.

-The overall educational philosophy--I'm on neurosurg right now (yeah, I should be sleeping) and my chief resident has made it very clear that my learning is the top priority. Med students will be scutted out at all med schools but it's pretty limited here. No med student will be ever be asked to pre-round on more than 5 patients. How much more could you possibly learn by collecting numbers on 30 patients versus 5? That time is better spent reading or asking questions.


To answer a couple of questions that have been posted:
1. Do the rotations suck because Stanford is in Palo Alto: NO. First of all, we rotate through 5 hospitals--Stanford Hospital, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Kaiser Santa Clara, Santa Clara Valley County, and Palo Alto VA. Each hospital has its own unique population. Sure, Stanford Hospital gets a larger share of rich folks but that doesn't mean that they're going to be bad patients to work with. If you want to be a "snob" about not working with rich folks, just schedule your rotations at the other hospitals.

2. Diversity: The medical student body is highly diverse. The Bay Area is one of the most diverse regions in the nation. Stanford, as a whole, reflects this in its student body, both undergraduate and graduate.

Quick piece of advice:
When you guys decide on a med school, place less emphasis on the preclinical years and worry more about the clinical years, especially the first, and how your med school training will help get you to where you want to go. One of the end goals is to get into the residency program of your choice. When you apply, programs care very little about your preclinical track record with the exception of your Step 1 score. Other key components include your performance on clinical rotations during your third year and the first few months of your fourth year, recommendations, and your CV. The last is where motivated Stanford students can get a huge advantage. The combination of not having to stress about grades, amazing funding for research (Med Scholars program), overall flexibility in the curriculum, and faculty who are generally interested in helping out students, allows for Stanford med students to really build up their CV and stand out from the rest.

Yeah, we are slow in admissions process every year. It's still early. I wouldn't sweat it at this time. The admissions director reads through every application himself. The med students also review the applications but since there are fewer of us, this takes a bit more time too.


Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[constructor]

Really? I don't know if you're being sarcastic...

not being sarcastic... i know lots of students and none of them is sarcastic although my sampling isn't very random...

 

[OzDDS]

Do you think that Stanford is the best medical school? I hear that the students are snobby and that the clinical rotations suck b/c Stanford panders to the rich of Palo Alto.

Also, from what I hear, there is little diversity

I am Jew from the Midwest (Omaha, NE) and I hear that there are very few of us in Stanford

But I am not totally sure

Haha.. the rich people of Palo Alto are largely Jewish dude..

 

[DrRads101]

Why doesn't it surprise me that someone who goes to the school thinks that it is "the best in the country." Unless you've attended other medical schools, I wouldn't be so boisterous as to claim that Stanford med is the best in the country. You didn't even mention the crappy hospital or the fact you are stuck in the suburbs. If I want good clinical training I'd like to be in a state of the art, huge hospital in a big urban area, all of which Stanford's is certainly not. There is a lot to like and dislike about every school. The original post has a lot of rose colored glass coating on it. There are a lot of the positives listed that are not unique to Stanford, and there are a lot of negatives that students from other schools could mention, that I believe you missed. Not the least of which is the awful hospital and the fact that of the top 15 medical schools Stanford has by far the lowest research funding and the fewest faculty. When you're faculty to student ratio is less than 2 and you only have 86 students per class, that is a negative that deserves to be mentioned.

And there are just so many things in that list you created that are simply not unique to your school. Free clinics? Online video lectures? Getting paid to do research in other countries? No AOA? Getting TA/RA positions? T1 connections in campus housing? Free printing? Renting movies for free at the library? Wal mart 10 minutes away? Online journals available to off campus computers? I mean, come on dude. Most of these are not good reasons to choose a medical school, and NONE of these are unique to Stanford. A lot of school don't have AOA. A lot of schools have online video lectures. Most schools I interviewed at had a "traveling scholars" program. I can't think of a school that doesn't allow you to go onto the university network and get online journals via VPN on an off campus computer. What university library in this country doesn't have movies? And how is Wal Mart being 10 minutes away a good thing, or even unique. And wow, if you go to Stanford you get a long coat rather than a short one. Whip-dee-freakin' doo. And the fact that you only attend 10% of your classes makes me wonder how good the teaching is there, or how many hours of lecture you guys have every week compared to more progressive places like Northwestern that only have 2 hours per day.

At least give it a balanced report and not "rah rah Stanford" just because you go there. The very fact you didn't mention the hospital as a negative or the incredibly low faculty/student ratio and incredibly low research funding makes me question how many medical schools you have been to, and I like how the negatives are just "manageable" and not real negatives.

I am happy you are happy about your school, and can spin it to make it look like the best one in your book. Many of us could do the same with other schools.

 

[Cat's Meow]

Cat's Meow just posts stupid stuff to try and start **** with people, i guess thats being a troll or flaming, not familiar with all these board terms. Ignore him or her, they started a thread a while back called "Are their any other jewish pre-meds out there?" It's jus someone being an idiot

Jeez dude. Why so much anger? I was asking some legit questions about Stanford Med, and then you jump all over me.

This is supposed to be an open forum...

So, to ctwickman's comments: thank you for a perspective from another angle. Very much appreciated.

 

[constructor]

i'll say this... if you wanna be with jewish people throughout medical school then go to einstein, mt. sinai, etc. stanford, of course, has many jewish medical students, but they're well-balanced in terms of ethnicities and religious groups. so, if you care to meet some of the most interesting people that are part of the most diverse student population in the country, then you might want to consider stanford.

 

[Cat's Meow]

i'll say this... if you wanna be with jewish people throughout medical school then go to einstein, mt. sinai, etc. stanford, of course, has many jewish medical students, but they're well-balanced in terms of ethnicities and religious groups. so, if you care to meet some of the most interesting people that are part of the most diverse student population in the country, then you might want to consider stanford.

this is nice to know

 

[Harps]

Why doesn't it surprise me that someone who goes to the school thinks that it is "the best in the country." Unless you've attended other medical schools, I wouldn't be so boisterous as to claim that Stanford med is the best in the country. You didn't even mention the crappy hospital or the fact you are stuck in the suburbs. If I want good clinical training I'd like to be in a state of the art, huge hospital in a big urban area, all of which Stanford's is certainly not. There is a lot to like and dislike about every school. The original post has a lot of rose colored glass coating on it. There are a lot of the positives listed that are not unique to Stanford, and there are a lot of negatives that students from other schools could mention, that I believe you missed. Not the least of which is the awful hospital and the fact that of the top 15 medical schools Stanford has by far the lowest research funding and the fewest faculty. When you're faculty to student ratio is less than 2 and you only have 86 students per class, that is a negative that deserves to be mentioned.

And there are just so many things in that list you created that are simply not unique to your school. Free clinics? Online video lectures? Getting paid to do research in other countries? No AOA? Getting TA/RA positions? T1 connections in campus housing? Free printing? Renting movies for free at the library? Wal mart 10 minutes away? Online journals available to off campus computers? I mean, come on dude. Most of these are not good reasons to choose a medical school, and NONE of these are unique to Stanford. A lot of school don't have AOA. A lot of schools have online video lectures. Most schools I interviewed at had a "traveling scholars" program. I can't think of a school that doesn't allow you to go onto the university network and get online journals via VPN on an off campus computer. What university library in this country doesn't have movies? And how is Wal Mart being 10 minutes away a good thing, or even unique. And wow, if you go to Stanford you get a long coat rather than a short one. Whip-dee-freakin' doo. And the fact that you only attend 10% of your classes makes me wonder how good the teaching is there, or how many hours of lecture you guys have every week compared to more progressive places like Northwestern that only have 2 hours per day.

At least give it a balanced report and not "rah rah Stanford" just because you go there. The very fact you didn't mention the hospital as a negative or the incredibly low faculty/student ratio and incredibly low research funding makes me question how many medical schools you have been to, and I like how the negatives are just "manageable" and not real negatives.

I am happy you are happy about your school, and can spin it to make it look like the best one in your book. Many of us could do the same with other schools.

if ranked by funding per faculty....stanford would be even higher ranked...

teaching is excellent....my cellular bio. prof. just won the macarthur award


of course..every school has it's negatives...stanford just has overwhelming positive

-Harps

 

[ice_23]

this is nice to know

If you want a really strong Jewish community in your medical school, choose a school in New York.

-Ice

 

[Cat's Meow]

if ranked by funding per faculty....stanford would be even higher ranked...

teaching is excellent....my cellular bio. prof. just won the macarthur award


of course..every school has it's negatives...stanford just has overwhelming positive

-Harps

I hear that UCSF is better than Stanford in basically every way. Do you think this is true?

 

[constructor]

I hear that UCSF is better than Stanford in basically every way. Do you think this is true?

yeah, it's ranked higher so maybe it's better. but if you're into research you're not going to get better opportunities in terms of funding anywhere else. stanford's the richest school and they won't hesitate to show you why. unfortunately, the rankings don't reflect this fact. also, stanford's much more beautiful than ucsf, although ucsf has much more stuff to do on weekends (and weeknights too).

 

[Cat's Meow]

yeah, it's ranked higher so maybe it's better. but if you're into research you're not going to get better opportunities in terms of funding anywhere else. stanford's the richest school and they won't hesitate to show you why. unfortunately, the rankings don't reflect this fact. also, stanford's much more beautiful than ucsf, although ucsf has much more stuff to do on weekends (and weeknights too).

thanks for the feedback.

i hear that palo alto is kinda plush and that you have to have $$$ to have fun. is the same true of ucsf?

when you talk about funding at stanford, what do you mean? one of the posters above pointed out that stanford has less research dollars coming in to the university...does stanford have other sources of funds?

sorry. i am from the midwest and don't know of such things. also, another poster said that there are many jews (like myself) in palo alto...is that true?

thanks

 

[BAM!]

I think that it shows that Stanford Med is a good school considering that the students enjoy it and a so passionate about insisting that their school is the best. Would you rather go to a school where the students are unhappy? Who cares what the official US news and world report rankings are. All schools in the US are good! Personally, I don't think there is much that distinguishes the top 20 schools from one another.

 

[Cat's Meow]

I think that it shows that Stanford Med is a good school considering that the students enjoy it and a so passionate about insisting that their school is the best. Would you rather go to a school where the students are unhappy? Who cares what the official US news and world report rankings are. All schools in the US are good! Personally, I don't think there is much that distinguishes the top 20 schools from one another.

Are UCSF students generally unhappy? I don't know anyone who goes there, but I am attracted to SF b/c of its large Jewish population.

 

[nimer1456]

Are UCSF students generally unhappy? I don't know anyone who goes there, but I am attracted to SF b/c of its large Jewish population.

Are you 12 or what? Why is it so important to you to express that you are Jewish? There are Jews everywhere; you will meet someone at all schools. And please do not use that you are from the Midwest as to why you don?t know any Jews. I am from Illinois I can name 10 Jewish people off the top of my head so they do exist in the Midwest. My god you are an annoying SDNer.

 

[Cat's Meow]

Are you 12 or what? Why is it so important to you to express that you are Jewish? There are Jews everywhere; you will meet someone at all schools. And please do not use that you are from the Midwest as to why you don?t know any Jews. I am from Illinois I can name 10 Jewish people off the top of my head so they do exist in the Midwest. My god you are an annoying SDNer.

Why is everyone so mean to me?

Again, I have legit concerns. I come from Nebraska where I am only one of a few Jews. It seems like everyone is against me

So, I guess that Stanford does have supportive students (unlike youself, niner1456).

 

[nimer1456]

Why is everyone so mean to me?

Again, I have legit concerns. I come from Nebraska where I am only one of a few Jews. It seems like everyone is against me

So, I guess that Stanford does have supportive students (unlike youself, niner1456).

You could have at least spelled NIMER right And I am not trying to be mean but you seriously need to relax. You are not a minority in medicine? you need to trust people.

 

[nimer1456]

that's right..hell yeah...stanford rocks

-Harps

But back to the OP... Exactly why Stanford is my top choice!! Just have to wait until the end of November

 

[BAM!]

Are UCSF students generally unhappy? I don't know anyone who goes there, but I am attracted to SF b/c of its large Jewish population.

i'm not insinuating that UCSF students are unhappy - I'm just saying at Stanford, the students generally are happy. And they aren't just happy, they are vocal about it which speaks very strongly in support of the school.

keep in mind i went to berkeley, so i'm really swallowing my pride here.

 

[constructor]

thanks for the feedback.

i hear that palo alto is kinda plush and that you have to have $$$ to have fun. is the same true of ucsf?

when you talk about funding at stanford, what do you mean? one of the posters above pointed out that stanford has less research dollars coming in to the university...does stanford have other sources of funds?

sorry. i am from the midwest and don't know of such things. also, another poster said that there are many jews (like myself) in palo alto...is that true?

thanks

they get a ton of money from private companies and organizations in silicon valleey and southern california. i think newsweek's statistic on funding is based on NIH which is why it's not fully correct.

as for the living costs, palo alto and sf are about the same (very very expensive). but when you live on campus you can't really tell because you're sorta cushioned from having to pay rent that's representative of most residences in the area (and stanford does have on campus housing for med students). you don't need to spend a lot of money to have fun. 5-20 bucks cover in most clubs, eating out isn't outrageous,...

 

[OzDDS]

Why is everyone so mean to me?
I am only one of a few Jews. It seems like everyone is against me

common misconception.

I'm sure you'll find plenty of Jewish people to network with whereever you go.. Don't worry so much!

 

[Cat's Meow]

i'm not insinuating that UCSF students are unhappy - I'm just saying at Stanford, the students generally are happy. And they aren't just happy, they are vocal about it which speaks very strongly in support of the school.

keep in mind i went to berkeley, so i'm really swallowing my pride here.

thanks for the honest feedback

 

[Cat's Meow]

But back to the OP... Exactly why Stanford is my top choice!! Just have to wait until the end of November